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Conquering the Middlegame
Essential Chess Resources to Sharpen Your Skills
The middlegame, the heart and soul of chess, is where strategies unfold, tactics unleash their fury, and the entire game's course can shift dramatically. Mastering this dynamic phase is crucial for chess players of all levels.
This comprehensive guide equips you with a treasure trove of valuable resources to elevate your middlegame prowess. We've categorized them for easy navigation, catering to both beginners seeking fundamental concepts and seasoned players aiming to refine their strategic thinking.
Why Focus on the Middlegame?
- Strategic Planning: The middlegame is your canvas to craft a winning strategy. You'll learn to exploit weaknesses, control key squares, and create imbalances favoring your piece activity.
- Tactical Awareness: Sharp tactics often come to the forefront. You'll develop your ability to identify and execute powerful tactical opportunities like forks, pins, skewers, and discovered attacks.
- Positional Understanding: Chess isn't just about brute force. The middlegame hones your positional understanding, teaching you the value of piece placement, pawn structure, and king safety.
Books (Free)
Chess blueprints : planning in the middlegame by Yakovlev, Nikolay - 282 page PDFChess Middlegame Articles
- Chess Middlegame Strategy: The Ultimate Guide For Beginners - Really Nice Guide (In-Depth) - This comprehensive guide, perfect for beginners, dives into the fundamentals of middlegame play. Learn where to best position your pieces and gain valuable general tips to build a strong foundation for success.
- General Middlegame Advice - Nice in-depth Guide By Exeter Chess Club - Feeling overwhelmed by middlegame complexity? This guide, compiled from beginner's chess books, offers practical strategies to simplify your decision-making process.
- 16 tips on how to improve your middlegame in chess - Chess delights - Consider this a handy cheat sheet packed with actionable tips to elevate your middlegame prowess. Quickly reference these pointers to make informed choices during your next game.
- 9 Middlegame Concepts You Must Know - TheChessWorld - Overview of all the Major Middlegame Concepts w/ 40 min Embedded Video
Middlegame LiChess Studies
New to Lichess studies? These interactive tools allow you to explore chess concepts and variations move-by-move, perfect for testing your understanding and deepening your knowledge.
- Middlegame Strategies - 11 Chapters (495 hearts) - This comprehensive study delves into each piece's role, guiding you through the process of making a plan and exploiting an exposed king.
- The Art Of The Middle Game - 11 Chapters (295 hearts) - Based on the renowned work by Alexander Kotov & Paul Keres, this study condenses the wisdom of the masters, teaching you how to form a plan and effectively attack your opponent's king in a castled position.
- How to WIN in the Middlegame - 9 Chapter Study (777 hearts) - Harness the winning techniques employed by GM Igor Smirnov through this study, packed with insights gleaned from his video lectures.
- 11 Middle Game Plans - 12 Chapter interactive Study -Dive into an interactive learning experience where you'll learn a valuable lesson and plan from each carefully chosen position.
Chess Middlegame Video Lessons
Playlists
- Chess Middlegame - 53 Video playlist - Remote Chess Academy
- Chess Middlegame Ideas - 50 Video Playlist - Hanging Pawns
- The Middlegame in Chess - 35 Video playlist - Jim's Chess Channel
- Learn Chess - Middlegame Strategy - 9 Video Playlist - Chess Explained
- Miss Strategy's Middlegame Show - 48 Video Playlist - IM Anna Rudolph
- 50 middlegames master class - 23 Video Playlist - Gotham Chess
Lessons
The 10 Best Chess Plans For The Middlegame - Chess Strategy For The Middlegame - Midgame Strategy - 13 Min - NM Nelson Lopez - several examples of types of chess plans and strategies that you can use in your next game!
How To Use Pawns In Chess Middlegames - 15 min - IM Levy Rozman
Creating Strategic Plans | Chess Middlegames - 28 Min - Hanging Pawns
Middlegame strategy - Using all pieces in the middlegame - 17 min Jozarov's Chess Channel - Today's theme is again the middlegame strategy with the principle of using all of your pieces in the attack.
Finding the best Squares for your Pieces with Maneuvering | Chess Middlegame | GM Sam Shankland - 16 Min - GM Sam Shankland will show you how to improve the placement of your pieces.
The Influence of centralized Pieces in the Middlegame | Chess Strategy - 15 Min IM Ostrovskiy - learn the influence of centralized pieces in the position based on practical examples.
The Golden Rules for the Middlegame | IM Andrey Ostrovskiy - 27 Min - IM Andrey Ostrovskiy is teaching to you the golden middlegame rules that every chess player needs to know. (Video below)
Tactical Motifs MiddleGame
Middlegame Tactical Motifs | Full Lesson | Oxford University Chess Club - 61 Min
Secrets of the Middlegame 🕵 Unexpected Tactical Chess Opportunities - GM Danny Gormally - 40 Min - In this sample from his course Danny looks at the unexpected tactical opportunities that can arise in every game.
Middlegame Mistakes
Most Common Middlegame Mistakes of Club Players [FM Viktor Neustroev] - 47 Min - Learn How to Avoid Mistakes in the Middlegame and Improve Your Performance! Covers Many middlegame topics.
Typical Mistakes in Practical Middlegame and Endings - 5 Min
NM Robert Ramirez
- Chess lesson # 91: Middlegame Strategy - 35 Min
- Chess Lesson # 118: Middlegame Mastery - 23 Min
- Chess Lesson # 138: Master The Middlegame - 13 Min
- Chess Lesson # 101: Middlegame Strategy Playing VS The Isolani Pawn Structure - 46 Min
- Chess Lesson # 149: Middle-game Strategy Tip - 14 Min
- Easy Opening With Easy Middlegame Plan | Chess Lesson # 191 - 16 Min
St.Louis Chess Club
Playlists
- Mastering the Middlegame Lectures - 15 Video playlist - Ben Finegold
- Saint Louis Chess Club | Mastering the Middlegame - 47 Video Playlist - Assorted Speakers
Middlegame Planning | Mastering the Middlegame - GM Josh Friedel - 46 Min
Develop a Middlegame Plan - FM Aviv Friedman - 2014.10.22 - 49 Min
The Early Middlegame: What to do?! | Road to 2000 - 52 min NM Caleb Denby
Restriction: Shutdown of Pieces | Mastering the Middlegame - GM Cristian Chirila - 49 Min
Two Bishops in the Middlegame - GM Eric Hansen - 47 Min
Endgames & Middlegame Exercises | Grandmaster's Choice - GM Yuniesky Quesada - 66 Min
Akobian at the 2014 Olympiad | Mastering the Middlegame - GM Varuzhan Akobian - 37 Min
My Great Middlegames of 1987 & 1988 - GM Ben Finegold - 41 Min
Ben's Wild European Days | Mastering the Middlegame - GM Ben Finegold - 43 Min
Thanksgiving Open Middlegames - GM Ben Finegold - 45 Min
Game Videos (Emphasis On Middle-game Plans)
Developing a Plan in the Early Middlegame | Climbing the Rating Ladder vs. trhdude (1844) - 31 MIN
Middlegame Strategy of Anatoly Karpov by GM Ben Finegold - 50 min - Analysis of 3 of Karpov's games
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| "Tactics is knowing what to do when there is something to do; strategy is knowing what to do when there is nothing to do." - Savielly Tartakower |